Tag: Lord Berkeley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Minute to Parliament describing the contingent liability with an indicative value of up to £500 million, as created by the Market Disruption Facility agreed and signed by the Secretary of State and Bazalgette Tunnel Limited on 24 August 2015 in connection with the Thames Tideway Tunnel project was published, in the light of the fact that the potential exposure of the public purse exceeds £300,000; and when a Minute to Parliament was published in respect of the further contingent liability created by the Secretary of State in connection with the same project through his agreement to the Contingent Equity Support Agreement, signed on the same day with the same party, in the light of the fact that the liability could be as great or greater than that in the Market Disruption Facility.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Defra did not submit departmental Minutes on the various limbs of the Government’s contingent financial support package for the Thames Tideway Tunnel because the Secretary of State has statutory authority to give financial assistance for major water or sewerage infrastructure projects under section 154B of the Water Industry Act 1991. This is consistent with the approach set out in HM Treasury’s guidance, Managing Public Money, paragraph A5.4.21 & Box A5.4C.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-06-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Thames Tideway Tunnel project will send clean excavated materials to landfill permit sites as a waste or to be beneficially reused as a material or product as recovery in accordance with its commitment to reduce waste to landfill in the development consent order.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Tideway, the infrastructure provider set up to finance and deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel, has been assessing several sites identified through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process to receive the tunnel excavated material.

Amongst other things this assessment looks at maximising the beneficial use of excavated material and its transport by river to meet environmental commitments made under the DCO. The relevant site operators have already made a number of applications to the Environment Agency (EA). The type of permit these sites require will be assessed by the EA in line with its guidance. This guidance is currently being revised following a recent Court of Appeal judgment which in some cases may lead to the reclassification of some waste activities as disposal rather than recovery. It is possible for appropriate disposal to deliver beneficial use such as habitat creation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the roles and responsibilities of the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure UK are, to whom they report, and what overlaps there are between them, if any.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The National Infrastructure Commission is an independent advisory body, currently operating on an interim basis. It will deliver a long-term plan and assessment of national infrastructure needs and publish advice on specific infrastructure issues. The Commission reports to the Chancellor.

Infrastructure UK is a specialist unit within the Treasury that works on the UK’s long-term infrastructure priorities and secures private sector investment. It provides commercial support for infrastructure projects, administers the UK Guarantee Scheme, and reviews and refines the way that Public Private Partnerships are run in the UK. Infrastructure UK reports to the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and to the Treasury Permanent Secretary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will launch an independent inquiry into the reported power failures on Type 45 destroyers, and the case for increasing their power capacity by 50 per cent.

Earl Howe

There is currently no plan to launch an independent inquiry into the reported power failures on Type 45 destroyers or the case for increasing their power capacity.

As announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we have committed to investing in the necessary improvements in the Type 45 power and propulsion systems to address issues and ensure future capability requirements can be met. Decisions will, of course, be fully scrutinised at each of the formal procurement investment decision points as the programme progresses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of (1) the number of HS2 trains of each size required for HS2 Phase 1 and HS2 Phase 2, and (2) the total cost (a) of each type of train, and (b) for each phase.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Functional Response annexed to the Development Agreement outlines what HS2 Ltd will deliver to satisfy the Sponsor’s Requirements, including capacity requirements for both phases of the new railway. HS2 Ltd are in the process of completing their Rolling Stock Strategy which will contain greater detail on the fleet sizes expected to be procured.

As part of the Spending Round announced in November 2015, the rolling stock funding envelope has been integrated with the relevant Phase specific infrastructure funding envelope as shown below.

Phase One	27.2
Phase Two	28.5
Programme Total	55.7

Note. The above table shows information in £Billion at 2015 prices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Chief Executive of the Water Regulator OFWAT was permitted to participate in a promotional video for the services of PwC, which is adviser to the Regulator both for PR14 and the Thames Tideway Tunnel, many of the UK water companies, and the owners of Thames Water, the sponsor for the Tideway Tunnel; and whether this is contrary to the Civil Service Management Code, clause 4.1.3.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

OFWAT’s Chief Executive took part in a digital case study describing the challenges of its 2014 price review (PR14) and the role of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) as the PR14 delivery partner, contracted through open competition, to bring new skills and knowledge to OFWAT’s workforce to help secure a successful outcome. The case study was produced after the PR14 programme had ended and reflected the conclusion from OFWAT’s ‘lessons learned’ exercise that the delivery partner arrangement had been successful.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Office of National Statistics’ statistical bulletin Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2015 published on 23 June was not subject to purdah before the EU referendum.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any restrictions concerning ships anchoring in Mount’s Bay, and what steps are being taken to protect fishermen’s lobster pots from damage by ships’ ground tackle.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

There are no restrictions concerning ships anchoring in Mount’s Bay. International freedoms permitting ships to anchor within territorial seas are protected under the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Ships’ Masters are responsible for selecting safe and appropriate anchorage positions for their ships.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is aware of the ongoing sea‑space competition issue between shipping and fisheries in Mount’s Bay. Warnings of unattended fishing pots have been placed on both nautical charts and in Admiralty Pilot books to assist Ships’ Masters with the decision where to anchor.

In October 2015, the MCA facilitated a meeting between affected Mount’s Bay fishermen and the UK’s Safety of Navigation Committee, with a view to addressing the underlying problems here. This work is ongoing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish responses to the consultation on the draft Shaw Report on the future structure of Network Rail.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Government has asked Nicola Shaw to undertake an independent report on the future shape and financing of Network Rail and it is up to her whether she chooses to publish the responses to her consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 March (HL6898), what assessment they have made of the Mont Blanc tunnel fire of 1999 and the implications of that fire and subsequent investigations, inquiries and trials for (1) the construction of a Trans-Pennine Tunnel or other long road tunnels, (2) the safety management of such tunnels, (3) the classes of vehicles that will be permitted to operate through such tunnels, and (4) the licensing and inspection of different classes of vehicles, especially heavy goods vehicles, in using such tunnels.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Trans Pennine Tunnel Study will include the consideration of international best practice in tunnel design and management to learn lessons from around the world. The design and development of a Trans Pennine Tunnel will comply with the current international standards that were changed as a result of the Mont Blanc fire.